A Job Well Done

It was back to school, back to reality, today. This World Cup which has taken up so much time and energy has come to a glorious end with fireworks and the surprise bonus of an appearance by Madiba, all wrapped up in furs against the Highveld winter. 

Going about my errands today I bumped into people who I haven't seen since before the tournament started.  It was an affirmation of all that I have been feeling. Fellow-South Africans are proud of what we have achieved. The general feeling seems to be that we did a good job.

I have always thought that in South Africa we live from one extreme to the other. We are either ecstatic about sporting achievements or down in the dumps about whether we can live up to the promise of 1994. We don't seem to be able to find the middle ground. We celebrate  because we have thrown off the heavy mantle of apartheid and then we descend into depression because we think we cannot handle concrete issues like crime and transport.

Perhaps we are too hard on ourselves so that we don't get disappointed. Then we cannot believe that we have actually managed to make a success of something. Maybe it is a legacy of living through oppression and injustice that has dealt such a blow to our confidence that we need to work at believing in our ability to be great.

I think the World Cup has gone further than we could ever hope to restoring some of that spirit. It has given us the opportunity to shine with the whole world watching. And we did it waving our flag - proudly South African. But beyond that we have emerged proudly African, part of the entire continent. Now we just need to hold onto that and keep moving forward. Amandla!